Undone
by mayfair22
Summary: "The fact that Stefan is not here does not mean that you have a chance. Okay."..."I'll keep that in mind." He says without a trace of emotion, "Now eat."
1. Chapter 1

_AN- First hand at TVD simply because that love triangle is epic and cannot be ignored… I had meant this to be a one shot but now I think I'll continue. It'll still be short though; 3-4 chapters max._

_Slightly AU, considering I don't have Stefan and Elena break up before he gets stuck in the tomb. It sort of dimmed the intensity I was aiming for. So there are still together and I haven't really mentioned Rose. She is there somewhere but I haven't mentioned her yet mainly because I didn't know where to fit her._

_The main inspiration for this story is the frustration I felt at having Stefan back from the tomb so soon __…Sorry, I can't help it, I'm a loyal Delena shipper…_

_Disclaimer. Disclaimed._

* * *

She blames the entire thing on him…It isn't his fault and she bloody well knows it…And yet she puts every little thing wrong with her life on him.

If he hadn't been so busy accessing his authority on her and her decisions then perhaps he would have been there to save Stefan from getting stuck in the tomb, if _she_ hadn't been stuck with him, being treated like a two year old, then she would have done so herself.

On a vague thought she knows that it had been her brother's stupidity more than anything else which has Stefan in the tomb with her psychotic doppelganger for company but she pushes that thought away and directs all her anger (guilt, worry, insecurity and just general discomfort) on Damon Salvatore.

It is easier than not being able to do anything about it…

He on his part just ignores her.

The thought of his brother troubles him as well, but he'll rather die a second time over than admit to it. So he alters between discussing farfetched possibilities with Alaric and watching the witch try her hand at some of her hocus pocus.

"It isn't working", Bonnie tells him every time he goes to see how she is progressing and the thought of ripping her head off in frustration does cross his mind; until he sees the genuine worry in her eyes.

She wants Stefan out probably as much as he does.

Everyone worries about Stefan. Everyone wants him safe and living; He has known that for centuries now…

When he enters the boarding house late at night he sees Elena in front of the fire, her unblinking eyes watching the flames steadily.

'Another brooder', he thinks. Stefan and Elena were probably made for each other. The thought leaves a weird taste in his mouth and he remembers that he hasn't had his usual scotch for the night.

He makes a glass and is on his way up the stairs when she finally breaks the silence.

"Anything?"She asks.

"Nothing." He answers.

It's the same scene every night.

* * *

She has Jeremy over at the boarding house, again. And even though he pretends that it irks him, it really doesn't.

Because sometimes he sees something in the younger boy's eyes he saw many many years ago in Stefan's.

It's a sort of an awe mixed with irritation look younger brothers have reserved especially for older ones. He doesn't like to think about those times…But most times he does. The times before vampires, before death…Before Katherine.

"How long are you going to keep her here?" the younger Gilbert asks him.

"As long as it takes."

Jeremy tells him something about Jenna being worried and Damon reminds him that he would let Alaric take care of that. It was more necessary that Elena remains safe and he didn't see any place safer than his own place.

He had made Stefan a promise. He was going to keep her safe, sometimes for Stefan, most of the time for himself…

It takes a week and a half and a lot of tantrums from Elena till he lets her out at day time. They haven't heard anything about the originals yet and he hopes it remains so for sometime…

She decides to go back to school and tries really hard not to stare at the empty chair beside her. Stefan would be out soon, she reminds herself and hastily wipes away the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. It bothers her because if she is so sure and hopeful then why is she crying?

She blames her tears on Damon.

* * *

That night his oversensitive ears pick up the sound of her quietly typing on her computer in his living room.

"Some people are trying to sleep you know." He drawls at the doorway.

"Most people can't hear keys being typed from a floor above." And she doesn't even look at him.

He smirks at her, "tch tch…" he clips, "somebody sure has her knickers in a twist."

She ignores him and simply picks up her stuff and makes her way towards Stefan's room. She had a choice from the several guest rooms but she chose Stefan's. She was trying to make a point. She isn't sure to whom.

"Goodnight Damon."

"Wait." He stops her.

She stops in her tracks, "what?"

"Sit."

And she has no intensions of obeying him. She is done with him trying to control her life and it's three in the morning and they are alone and she is definitely not going to stay here with him. But she is so so tired of _everything_ and suddenly the load in her hands feels too much to handle. With a sigh she sits back and turns around to look at him, "what?" She repeats.

"What are you working on?" He asks motioning towards her laptop.

She tells him that it's a paper on The Great Depression she needs to complete, "Thanks to you, I haven't been to school in weeks and have no idea what to write." She adds as an afterthought, you know, just for the effects.

He smiles at her and she wants to smack it off his face, "I'll do it for you."

She looks up at him in shock; she doesn't expect him to know what she is talking about. Stefan perhaps. But not Damon.

He shrugs nonchalantly at her, "I was there remember."

She lets him do it and closes her eyes as the only sign of gratitude while he types the night away.

She gets an A on her paper but she doesn't tell him that.

* * *

They don't talk much. She spends her time with Jenna or Caroline while he is still trying to get Bonnie to undo the tomb spell.

There has been no progress and it's getting more and more frustrating day by day.

Elena doesn't make it any easier.

He knows that she is not eating properly. He can see it in her eyes, in the way she walks. In the fact that she looks thinner than usual. He pushes a cereal bowl at her before she hurries off to school and threatens that he'll pull away that necklace of hers and compel her if she doesn't eat and she is left no choice.

He smiles in satisfaction and is on his way out of the kitchen when she calls out, "Damon."

He stops at the doorway.

"The fact that Stefan is not here does not mean you have a chance. Okay?"

His fists clench at his side and he's thankful that she can't see his face.

"I'll keep that in mind." He says without a trace of emotion, "Now eat."

And he's gone before she can respond.

* * *

_AN-I think I'm going to focus a bit into what kind of relation the brothers had before Katherine came and ruined it. What do you think? Please review. I'm open to every kind of suggestions because this can go wherever you would like it to._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN- For all those who favorited, alerted and reviewed the story, Thank you. _

_Hopefully you will like this chapter...I was to write more but then felt it made sense to end it here. Rest to come soon; in fact, I'm afraid the story will get longer than originally planned because I seem to have taken a slower pace than I had thought I would take. Let me know if you want me to fasten it._

* * *

_Once when Stefan was seven; Damon, just entering teenage hood and thinking that he could take the world, had taken him fishing by the lake…_

_What had happened had been a source of nightmares for a couple of months after. _

_Even today, he could sometimes feel the dread swell up inside him like it had that day. _

_How was he to know? _

_Stefan's scream for help had initially left him paralyzed with fear. In a matter of seconds his younger brother, who had been slowly getting closer and closer to the edge, had been swept away into the water, his small frame trying desperately to keep himself afloat._

_Damon hadn't known what to do and even though the memory was hazy he remembers the clenching of his heart as he had shouted in panic, "__**Stefan**__."_

_Without another thought he had jumped into the water only to realize that it was too damn cold and that he wasn't that great a swimmer as he had always prided himself to be…But his little brother was still crying for help and it hadn't seem to matter…_

_Stefan had come out alive but unconscious and with hands that trembled Damon had shaken his motionless body in utter panic, "Stefan, Steffy…Steffy get up."…_

He suddenly opens his eyes, the sound of her entering the house waking him up.

He smiles at her in a greeting of sorts and is greeted in return by an anxious look and a ghost of a smile which disappears as soon as it comes.

He still takes it as a start.

She stops at the bottom of the staircase and he waits for her to say something.

"Can I come with you next time you go visit Stefan?" She asks quietly.

He contemplates for some time and then nods, as long as she was not going there alone, "If that's what you want."

She nods and takes two steps up the stairs before stopping again, "Damon?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." And she continues to make her way up.

He silently and intently watches her go…

The love of one woman had once destroyed whatever bond he and his brother had shared. He doesn't know how the love of this one was going to affect whatever little was left of it.

* * *

The voices from the kitchen make her stop to peer inside. The scene inside is an unusual one, but given the changes which have been taking place, not a shocking one.

Jeremy is seated on top of the counter casually biting into an apple while Caroline is at the stove, very painstakingly trying to toss pancakes.

It is what Damon is doing which holds her gaze.

He is laughing, openly, at something her brother had said. He mockingly picks up a knife and is threatening Jeremy with it while her brother just continues to shake his head with laughter.

There is a comfort level between them she hadn't noticed before. And Jeremy looks…Happy. After such a long time that she finds herself smiling at them.

How can she blame Damon for 'killing' her brother when he turns out to be the one who saves him as well?

Damon picks up her scent as she enters and the smile drops from his face…

"Bloody technology." He mutters instead, shifting his attention back to the Food Processor he was trying to work. The thing had way too many buttons. Cooking was far easier in the 1800's.

"It's not like you time travelled, "Elena puts in and he notes that the hostility in her voice is absent. Atleast for today.

"You've seen things evolve." She continues, steeling the apple from Jeremy.

He smirks at her, "True. True." He says wisely. "From petticoats to Bikini's…Yes I have definitely seen things evolve."

She rolls her eyes at him, "what are you guys doing?"

"We decided to cook you break…" Caroline looks at her watch, "well…brunch."

* * *

Sleep doesn't come easily to her. Her head feels like it has been banging on a wall for a while and her stomach is knotted into several little questions she doesn't like acknowledging.

It has been a month today. _A month!_

She had seen Stefan last week. Damon, as promised, had taken her with him to visit him.

Of course there had been the general banter, "how about you keep your excitement at bay kid and remain behind me?"

"I'm not a child Damon."

He turned to look at her then, his eyes taking a teasing look as they slowly, _very slowly, _roamed over her body. He stepped closer and Elena stood her ground even though a flush started to creep up her neck, "Oh, trust me Elena. I have noticed _that_."

His eyes, God! Did he have expressive eyes, suddenly became serious, losing a bit of their shine as he leaned in even closer, "but I'm still much _much _older to you." He straitened back and Elena found herself releasing a breath she did not she was holding, "so you'll have to obey me."

With that he was gone and Elena had to follow him.

Seeing Stefan had been a turmoil, to say the least.

He looked…_ healthy_ even somewhat perkier than she had known him.

She had looked at Damon in confusion. Apparently the steady blood supply he had been providing Stefan with was laced with a good amount of human AB +ve from his private collection.

It had dislodged her. Somehow she had expected Stefan to look a mess, desperate to come out, desperate to escape the company of Katherine.

She understood the relief she felt, she even understood the jealousy, but _disappointment?_

Why did seeing Stefan okay, knowing that Damon was doing all he could do to keep him alright, make her feel disappointed?

Was it because it left her with nothing to hold against Damon? Or was it because it made her realize that Stefan could do without her? Or was it much more deep seated?

Was she feeling weird because…She refused to even think about it, let alone acknowledge the feeling.

There was no way that there was a part of her which had realized that she could do without Stefan as well ….

* * *

There are days when they do sit at the same place at the same time. They are too quiet for his taste, so he often breaks the silence with one of his excellent one liners.

Mostly Elena has a reply in hand, sometimes she just sits quietly.

He doesn't mind…

What has bought the change in her, he isn't sure, but it's nice to have her slightly less drowned in teenage angst…She seems acceptable to him on some days and he can live with that.

Like today, she is sitting with her eyes closed, seemingly enjoying the warmth of the fire, while he sits beside her, nursing a drink, his eyes steadily watching her.

Her face is etched in his memory, of course it is…He had been obsessed with that face for past 145 years…But no, it was the differences that he notices the most.

Elena's lips don't curl in a snarl ever, even when she is being her most sarcastic self, they only lift in a slight smirk…Her smile is genuine and reached her eyes…Her eyes…Her eyes are the most different…

They light up when she is happy, they dim when she is upset, they cloud when she is confused, they are black, but they are not dark…They hold a life in them…

That day when he had foolishly, stupidly, under some insane, weak moment had told her that he loved her …He had intently watched her eyes.

And had not been able to read them…He wasn't sure what he saw in them. Curosity? Confusion? He wasn't sure…

However, he was sure of one thing he had _not _seen in them…Revulsion.

He doesn't know if that makes him stupid to make her forget; given it was not revulsion, there might as well have been a chance…

What was he thinking? Damon shakes his head clear; Stefan is still in the tomb. It was his duty to get him back.

Without a word that alerts Elena he leaves to go visit Alaric. Tonight they have to go meet some out of town witches to work out the tomb spell.

He will bring Stefan back, he silently promises Elena as he leaves.

* * *

_So? I hope Elena is not getting OOC…She is just very very confused and trying very very hard not to fall for Damon…Do review._


	3. Chapter 3

_AN- Thanks everyone for your responses and I hope you like this._

_If you got the alert for this chapter for this twice then I'm sorry, I was making a change and landed up deleting it and then had to repost the chapter._

* * *

He doesn't return the next day, not the day after that and not even the day after that.

And it drives her off her mind.

Not a call or a message, not even a hurriedly written post-it on the fridge.

There was nothing.

She dozes off in front of the fire and wakes up to an eerily empty house.

Stefan has been in the tomb for a month and more now and this is the first time she truly feels alone.

Alaric mentions that yes, they had met two nights before but he has no idea where he is now. Or why is his phone switched off…

He does take her to his house though and offers her the guest room. It was not safe without Damon.

He means the Salvatore house; she knows that it's true for any place, anytime…

She is not safe without Damon. Period. She has known that for some time now.

One night she wakes up cold and scared…What if something had happened to him?

The other nights she dreams about him, his face twisted into a sarcastic smile, his eyes widening when he wants to make a point and sometimes she dreams about the sadness in his eyes she had seen when she had told him that she did not love him…

She has stopped eating altogether now and blames it on Damon for not being around to force food down her throat. She remains flushed and fidgety and guesses that she has probably caught a bug of some kind.

She still goes to school though, because Alaric's house is too empty and she cannot stand it…

It's on a day like this when he returns.

She is on her way to class when he suddenly appears, grabbing her arm and looping it through his own, "what's up?"

She is too stunned to respond.

He flashes her a grin and offers to carry her books for her. She hands them over wordlessly, still too unsure at his appearance.

She takes a hard look at him, just to double check and notices that he looks perfect.

Obviously, he had not been any kind of danger.

And all this time she had been getting nightmares…A sharp, boiling rage builds up inside her and she quells it down just so that she can enter her class.

Elena widens her eyes in shock when Damon continues to follow her inside and slides casually in the chair next to her, "Listen…" he says.

She looks around, there was no teacher yet but several students were giving her a weird look.

"I found a way to get Stefan out…" He blurts out to her and she jerks her head to look at him in surprise.

"What?"

"Yeah, some not so kind witches finally compromised…"

"Damon?" It's Mr. Saltzman and he looks as shocked as she feels.

"Rick." Damon responds in a greeting and then gets up from his place, smiling happily at Alaric and returning Elena's books to her table.

He ruffles her hair next, in a way she probably wouldn't even allow her mother to do. It's a strangely intimate gesture.

"I'll see you at home then." He calls out loudly and all but dances off outside the class.

Did he just say _home?_

She looks at Alaric who is still staring after Damon in a shock, "well, there is certainly a bounce in his step today," the teacher remarks dryly.

* * *

She has no thought of doing it before she does it, and afterward she can scarcely believe that she has done it. Not like it was the first time.

But it was a good hard slap, with the full force of her body behind it, and it all but turned Damon's face an inch to one side.

"Where were you?" She seethes at him.

He runs a thumb along his cheek and she sees his eyes change reactions from surprise to anger.

She picks up her hand again, not believing that there is still so much anger in her but he catches it effortlessly, like she knows he would. You can surprise Damon Salvatore only once.

"What. Is. Wrong. With. You?" he seethes at her, his tone clipped and each syllable coming out through gritted teeth.

"You left me alone."

"Ric took care of you, didn't he?" he snaps at her. Because didn't she know that he would never leave if he didn't know that they were others to look out for her.

"Let go off me Damon." She struggles against his hold and for a few moments he just watches her try, "let go off me."

And just as suddenly he releases her and she almost trips; still seething he turns his back to her.

Several minutes pass in utter quiet. The air crackling with the tension between them as he walks to the canister and pours himself a drink, "Will you care for one?" he asks, his back still turned to her, "or would you rather prefer to take out whatever girlish angst you have for whatever reason on good old me?"

"You left." She repeats, this time much more quietly. And no, she will not admit that she was sacred, more for him than for herself.

Something in her tone though makes him sigh and he puts down his drink and walks up to her, "will you accept a verbal apology or do I have to write it down?" his voice is still tensed but his tone is teasing and she finds herself cracking a half smile at him.

"I'm sorry." She says.

"Ditto." He says almost as quietly and takes a step closer to her, wiping away a lone tear she did not had escaped during her anger burst.

The next few moments are a total blur for her; one moment the pad of his thumb is against her jaw and the next his lips are touching hers.

And she doesn't seem to have the strength to fight back, she cannot deny him this anymore…She cannot deny _herself _thisanymore.

For him, it's like time breaks into tiny miniscule moments, each more prolonged, more detailed than the other…

And how stupid could he have been? How had he ever _ever _confused Katherine for Elena?

This is _real_…She is real, her body warm, her heart beating, and he cannot believe that he had ever made that mistake.

The though oh kissing her then, of having her kiss him back had made him devoid of any sane sense…

But today, right now, as his lips fuse over hers and she lets out a little whimper as he palms her face in his hands and pull her closer …He knows that this is Elena, could only be Elena…

Elena, who was _not _Katherine.

Elena, who was his younger brother's girlfriend.

He doesn't think he has a moral bone in him but this is not what he had meant when he had promised Stefan that he would take care of Elena.

He pulls back a little, his eyes questioning and hers are a little unfocused.

He watches as they return to focus and then she faints in his arms.

* * *

_AN- So? Do review._


	4. Chapter 4

_AN- It took me some time to get this done because I wasn't sure of what I was writing. However, I do hope it meets your expectations even though it hasn't quite met mine. There's just one more chapter to go.

* * *

_

"_I've had a lot of women do a lot of strange, delicious things when I kiss them but you're the first to have fainted."_

And that is all that ever passes between them about that night.

Sometimes she thinks that perhaps she dreamt it all…

So she closes her eyes and wills her to dream about Stefan instead, about her boyfriend who was trapped in a tomb because he had only been trying to help, because God knows what she would have done if it had been Jeremy there instead.

And she tries to remember him…Stefan's hands, Stefan's mouth and Stefan's body. The way he makes love to her, the gentle way he touches her, kisses her and green eyes turn to smoky blue and then it's not him anymore..

The thing is that this time she doesn't think it's him playing with her mind.

This time it's all her…

* * *

She wakes up sometime when it's still dark and he tells her through the shadows surrounding the room that she had some kind of viral and her body had not been strong enough to take it.

She nods and dozes off once again; _H__e was here. _

Apparently that's all that makes sense to her.

The next time it's voices that wake her, "Don't wet her hair you dimwit, put it on her forehead," Damon orders a very irritated looking Jeremy who's placing cold, damp towels on her head.

Her irresponsible, younger brother who hardly ever made his own cereal was _nursing_ her?

She really must be delirious with the fever.

However, the next time when she feels the dampness on her head again its accompanied with cool, lean fingers she recognizes for some odd, bizarre reason and the protest that she would rather just take a Paracetamol dies in her throat.

It's a strange, disfigured, jumbled up image.

Damon Salvatore looks too comfortable in a position such as this.

"You seem to have a lot of practice with it." She asks quietly, just to feel her voice again.

"It's the fastest way to get the temperature down." He responds without answering her question.

She waits.

"Stefan." He utters without preamble when she just continues to stare, each aware that there was a story here that he didn't want to unravel.

But he does and so it's somewhere in the middle of a tale of scarlet fever of 1855 that she realizes that he did care. _Oh! God! He does care._

He had spent an entire winter's night once taking care of a very sick Stefan and she knows with a certainty she has no claim over that he must have prayed, must have been scared, must have gone insane with worry…

"Father was away, mother had died, it's not like I had a choice," he executes with as much bluntness as he can muster.

And she knows that there is so so much more to it.

"How old were you?"

"Fifteen." He says while pulling back and clearing off the bedside and the way he averts her eyes tells her that the topic was now closed.

It must have been some long night

And even though she knows the answer before she has asked the question she is unable to stop herself and halts him on his way out, "You two were close Damon. What changed it?"

He stops at the door way and turns around to look at her slowly, his eyes cold, his expression closed, "_So the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen'_"

She doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

_Damon Salvatore was quoting the Bible?_

* * *

There was once a time when she would invite Jeremy over just to keep her company and probably just to irk Damon and now there are times when he comes and goes without her even knowing…

He's there to see Damon and no, it doesn't surprise her anymore. It only just sort of annoys her at times.

"What was that about?" she asks one day when she catches Damon pushing a reluctant Jeremy out of the door.

He turns to look up at her, a small patronizing grin gracing his face, "your brother's spell bound."

_Bonnie_. She isn't blind you know; as much as both her brother and her best friend have been hiding it from her she can feel the vibes between them from a mile away.

_And apparently it's Damon's turn to fetch out relationship advice._

A sudden thought enters her head.

"Does Jer remind you of Stefan?"

He blinks at her, once, like he can't believe she has asked so and then his eyes return back to their usual mirth, "Of course he does" her eyes flick up to him in surprise, "They both are huge pain in the…" he smirks wickedly at her, "you know where."

* * *

It's days later that she remembers to ask him about Stefan.

She wants to know what happened to the out of town witches who were supposed to help him get out but she lands up standing at the door of his room and asking absolutely irrelevant questions…

"Would Stefan still have liked me if I hadn't looked like _her_? You know, would he have bothered to get to know me, save me, if I had looked any different?"

Someday she will make up her mind about whether or not she took the right brother's name.

He's sprawled on his four poster bed, head at the headrest, arms casually crossed at the chest, eyes closed…

She would have thought he was asleep if it hadn't been for the yellowed, moth eaten, hard cover book peeking from under the pillows.

His love for old classics still does not cease to surprise her.

He opens his eyes and quirks up an eyebrow. She can make out the amusement in his eyes even though she hasn't dared cross the threshold of his room…Their relation…Take your pick.

"Insecure much Elena?…Afraid what may happen while baby brother is stuck in a dark, damp tomb with his ex girlfriend who strangely looks exactly like his current girlfriend?"

She shakes her head, because really this has never been her problem, she doesn't know what is though.

"I trust Stefan." She says honestly and his eyes flicker at her for a second before he shrugs, "frankly," he says closing his eyes once again, "I trust him too. _Boring_ isn't he?"

She hasn't gotten the answer she was looking for, but then she hadn't asked the right question.

Weirdly disappointed, she turns to go, her hand on the doorknob when his voice paralyses her to the spot, "Hypothetically speaking," she turns back to look at him as he continues, his eyes still closed, his posture still the very picture of casualness, "If _I _was Stefan, I wouldn't care that you look anything like Katherine…"

Her heart stops as he opens his eyes and stares right into hers, "I would love you for everything that you are and not for what you look like."

She all but runs down the steps…

Because what his words, his voice do to her…The thoughts it fills her head with when he tells her that he doesn't care that she looks like Katherine only makes her feel more and more like her evil doppelganger in a strange twisted kind of way…

Katherine had never made her choice, she was afraid she would never be able to make hers either.

Irony has never before bitten her so hard…

* * *

_AN- So? Do review and let me know. The ending of this story however may not be a great one but I will try and make as much consolation as I can for the Delana fans I may land up disappointing._


	5. Chapter 5

_AN- This is the end guys. Thank you so much for all your support. The reviews, the favorites had me smiling for days. Please do review and let me know if it suited your fancy._

* * *

The alcohol burns down his throat…

You would think that a century and more of drinking it every day would have scotch taste like water to him, but no…He enjoys this….This bitterness that settles in his stomach whenever he has had too much.

Today is one such day…

He shouldn't be bothered. Hasn't he known that this day would come?

Hell, hasn't he spent every waking hour not spent getting to know Elena better, trying to get Stefan back?

He takes another swig of the alcohol and lets it blaze down…

For all the love he feels for her he would always hate Elena for bringing out the emo side in him…Sometimes he doesn't know if he's any better than the douche bag he has come to grow so fond of.

Apparently both Jeremy and him have a knack for falling for the wrong women…He of course makes it a specialty for all of his brother's girlfriends.

"We'll have to stop playing house from now onwards Elena," is therefore the first thing he says when she enters through the door.

Two months, thirteen days and say nine hours she has been here, sharing space, a home, a domesticity with Damon.

Heck, she even has groceries in her hand for tonight's dinner…

And this is how he plans to throw it at her.

Just when she is finally getting a hang of it all.

"Stefan's coming back." It isn't a question but he answers her never the less, "tomorrow," he takes another swig of his drink before continuing, "your BFF and others finally know what to do."

She nods quietly and unsurely places her things on the couch, noticing how his eyes harden as they follow her movement.

She has been meaning to go see Stefan for quite some time now…But hasn't…

The weekly news from Damon about his well being somehow being enough for her…

She closes her eyes tiredly…What fills her now is absolute shame. Has she changed? Doesn't she care enough? True, Stefan hadn't wanted her to come to the tomb but he knows as well as she does that if she had wanted she would have…

How is that that the more time she spent away from Stefan made her realize that she could be without him?

It doesn't even have anything to do with Damon…She's more than relieved to hear that Stefan's coming back, she still loves him, probably always would, somehow she just doesn't _need_ him anymore…

"I'll go pack my stuff then." She informs Damon because surely he doesn't expect her to live here with both of them...

"Don't bother." He tells her, "I'll find a place for myself." What he really wants to do is skip town and never return but he can't…Not till she's safe anyway, maybe not even after that.

Plus, Stefan and he have somehow let _some_ water under the bridge, he wants to see if they could possibly rebuild it more…It could never be same, never… but he thinks he's finally ready to give it a try.

And for that he would have to escape the hold Elena has steadily been increasing over him…These last two months cementing that he never would.

"You're leaving?" she blurts out, "Don't!"

He looks at her darkly, shades of anger clouding his eyes suddenly, "Why Elena? So that I can play witness to your reunion sex with baby brother?" He narrows his eyes at her, "sorry, not my kink."

"I didn't mean…" She stops. What was it that she could say any way?

"I'll leave when he comes back." She finally tells him, "Jenna has been going out of her mind."

Closing her eyes once in resignation, she turns to make her way back to her room…Any thoughts of a quiet dinner with Damon forgotten.

In an instant he's in front of her.

"Tell me Elena; what would you do if I told Stefan about our little kiss the other night."

And screw the twisted pleasure he feels at the widening of her eyes; she doesn't think he would dare.

"You wouldn't" she spits out at him.

"Try me." He quips, leaning into her as she reels in the smell of alcohol on his breath.

He's drunk to the core…It's such a stark reminder of the night he killed Jeremy that she can't help but feel a little nervous.

"It was nothing." She tells him, "I was unwell; upset...we were…" she looks at him squarely, determinedly, "it was nothing." She repeats.

"So let's make it _something_." He trails a harsh hand up her thigh as he brings his mouth close to her ear, "I could take you right here, right now Elena…" she hisses in a breath as his hand moves higher, "And you would not be able to stop me."

He's right… Oh! God he's right. He really could take her right here, right now, probably on the floor; against the wall and she would do nothing to stop him…

He was right. She has been lying to Stefan, to him and most importantly to herself.

His other hand bunch up the material of her shirt and he trails fingers against her stomach, his mouth trailing a path against her neck…

She gasps as he nips lightly at a spot, the sound from her own mouth returning her back to what's happening, what he is doing and what she's letting him do.

Her boyfriend, his _brother_ is returning the next day and this is how she plans to spend the night waiting for him?

Hadn't she promised herself that she would never become Katherine? Hadn't the time spent at the Salvatore house told her enough about the bond the brothers had once shared… To not be the one to shatter it for once and for all…

It's with great effort and sanity she thinks she still has in her that she averts her mouth when he lowers his face to kiss her…

He stills, his hands spontaneously stopping their ministrations as he straitens to look up at her.

"Always Stefan. Isn't it?" He asks her, his voice soft.

She doesn't answer him because she doesn't believe it's the truth anymore.

But giving in into this _craziness_, this passion is not her; it's not even him…

"I'm going to go."

He doesn't stop her.

* * *

Bonnie comes to visit her the next morning.

Damon has long gone, unwilling to give her a chance to talk about last night…

She's grateful.

But her friend understands and even though she may never approve, she never the less understands.

It's when she's saying her good bye that Bonnie places a comforting hand on Elena's shoulder and says, "I'll keep them safe." She promises, "I'll keep _both _of them safe."

Elena cries herself to sleep as she waits for them to return.

And finally, when it's almost dawn and she hasn't realized that she has spent over twelve hours rooted to one corner of the couch that they do return.

Stefan followed by Damon.

She takes a tentative step towards them, unsure of what she's about to do.

Her eyes fall on Damon's…They are impassive, dispassionate.

Stefan's however are brimming with joy.

She has never planned to ever make a decision, a choice, but in this moment she realizes that she never can anyway…Damon's already made them for her.

Stefan hugs her tightly and she compiles, her eyes closing as she buries her face in his chest…

Damon remains quiet, unflinchingly watching the scene unfold in front of him.

Every time that he has ever had to watch Elena fall into Stefan's arms he has been aware of her watching _him_ from across his brother's shoulder.

This time however she does not look up.

He walks out without disturbing them.

* * *

_AN- Yeah, well. I guess, this is not what us Delena fans were hoping for but I had always planned to end it something like this. However, I have a companion piece to this in mind…Probably a two chapter which will be from both the brother's POV. Stefan's got to realize that Elena isn't the same anymore. That one will definitely end a Delena! So let me know if you would like to see a possible different ending to this. Before that however, I'll have a lighter, slightly fluffy one shot._

_Also remember that there's a reason that I didn't bring up Elijah into this…One, I wanted it to be Damon's efforts with the witches which gets Stefan out plus it would help me get Katherine out along with Stefan so that I can use her in the plot of the companion piece I might do._

_Do review..._


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